A big reason Microsoft gets away with charging nikkas for online play is because they been charging nikkas from the beginning & because they came out with online play before their
current competitors.
If Sony came out & foolishly announced they were going to start charging for online play, nikka.......................There would be a backlash. People in general, don't like when you take stuff that's always been free & should be free away from them. I think a lot of people would jump ship to other platforms. I know I would & a lot of other people would probably jump to the "
Steam Box"/PC gaming. Some people might jump to Xbox in protest. Some people might even start giving Nintendo a chance.
Real Talk, Sony really wants to make "PlayStation Plus" a big part of the PlayStation 4 experience. So they will definitely beef-up "PlayStation Plus" by adding Gaikai Streaming, advanced Share Button options, Cross-Game Party Chat (Party chat is free on the PS Vita, so it can go either way), & etc. But, Online Multiplayer, access to apps, & everything else that's free on the PS3 will be free on the PS4.